An Empirical Study On The Impact Of Digital Inclusive Finance On Consumption Inequality In China

As an important form of inequality,consumption inequality not only affects the social welfare level of residents,but also concerns the harmonious and stable development of society.At the same time,in the process of achieving common prosperity,consumption inequality is an issue that needs to be paid attention to.The14 th Five-Year Plan and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 also mention the goal of "gradually narrowing the gap between people’s income and actual consumption level".Digital financial inclusion,which takes into account both fairness and efficiency,enables more people to access financial services and opportunities through digital technology,in line with the goal of common prosperity,so that people can share the fruits of development and improve residents’ happiness.Therefore,this paper focuses on the consumption inequality,and it is of theoretical and practical significance to explore whether and how digital inclusive finance affects the consumption inequality of Chinese residents.First of all,the concept composition of consumption inequality and digital inclusive finance is clearly defined.Based on previous studies,the direct and indirect mechanism of digital inclusive finance on consumer consumption inequality is analyzed.Secondly,based on the data of Chinese Family Panel Studies(CFPS)from2012 to 2018,the Gini coefficient and Theil index were used to measure consumer inequality and analyze the current situation of consumer inequality in China.This paper analyzes the current development of digital inclusive finance in China based on the selected Peking University digital inclusive Finance index.Finally,a benchmark regression model is built to empirically study the impact of digital inclusion finance on consumer inequality,consumption inequality between urban and rural areas,within towns and villages residents,as well as the direct impact mechanism of three sub-dimensions of digital inclusion finance on consumer inequality,and the indirect impact mechanism of digital inclusion finance on consumer inequality based on the intermediary effect model.At the same time,the impact of digital financial inclusion on the heterogeneity of different regions and different consumer categories is considered.The empirical results of this paper show that:(1)the development of digital inclusive finance can alleviate the consumption inequality of residents,and reduce the consumption inequality of residents between urban and rural areas,within cities and towns,and within rural areas to varying degrees,among which the consumption inequality of rural residents has the greatest mitigation effect;(2)The influence of the three sub-dimensions of digital inclusion finance shows that the deepening of coverage breadth and digitization degree can reduce consumer inequality.The coverage breadth has a greater effect,but the use depth has no significant effect on the reduction of consumer inequality.(3)The results of the intermediary effect model show that income inequality has a significant intermediary effect,that is,digital financial inclusion can reduce the level of consumer inequality by reducing the level of income inequality;(4)The impact of digital inclusive finance on consumer consumption inequality is heterogeneous,and the differences between different regions are manifested in that the development of digital inclusive finance has promoted the weakening of consumer consumption inequality in central and western regions,but has no significant impact on consumer consumption inequality in eastern regions.The heterogeneity of different consumption categories shows that the continuous development of digital inclusive finance can improve the consumption inequality of development type and enjoyment type of residents,but the impact on the consumption inequality of subsistence type is not obvious.According to the empirical research conclusions,this paper puts forward measures for the development of digital inclusive finance,such as continuously improving infrastructure,accurately formulating regional policies,promoting the reasonable distribution of residents’ income,improving residents’ education level,and perfecting the legal supervision system,so as to achieve the purpose of narrowing the degree of consumer inequality.